Diversified Energy Company PLC (LSE:DEC, NYSE:DEC) has completed its acquisition of natural gas assets and pipelines from Summit Natural Resources, for $42 million.
The assets - in Virginia, West Virginia, and Alabama - include around 2,000 barrels of production plus around 11 million barrels of reserves.
Alongside the deal’s completion, DEC also announced it had closed a $530 million asset-backed securitization.
Brad Gray, DEC finance director, today commented: “This strategic refinance improves asset level cash flow with higher hedge prices and a more refined amortization schedule.
“Our increasing operational scale, track record of stable asset performance, and strength of our business enable us to attract reliable sources of capital and achieve a lower overall cost of capital.
“This outcome is a testament to how the financial markets value Diversified's reliable production and consistent cash flows."
Chief executive Rusty Hutson, meanwhile, added: "We are excited to announce the completion of another acquisition of high-quality, bolt-on assets that are uniquely positioned to benefit from the operational expertise of our field teams, capture higher prices with exposure to premium Transco Zone 5 pricing, and are poised to provide additional revenues from the sale of incremental environmental credits with our growth in the production of coal mine methane".
In London, analysts at stockbroker Stifel in a note commented that the Summit deal was a strategic acquisition that looked good at the time, "but it's now looking even better following the pick-up in US gas prices."
Stifel also repeated is 2,027p per share net asset valuation, which compares to a market price of 1,060p.